For many of the people coming through Bafta’s unassuming front door today, it will feel as though they have arrived at a school reunion. There are old friends to greet and catch up with and familiar corridors to walk down, while each new room they enter holds memories of a life-changing and formative time. We are at the gathering to mark 10 years of the Bafta Breakthrough new talent initiative – now in partnership with Netflix – which since 2013 has guided more than 200 people from the film, TV and gaming industry through a head-spinning year of pitch meetings, mentoring opportunities (each participant can ask for introductions to up to five mentors taken from Bafta members) and wild parties. Yes, there were plenty of glitzy dos and starstruck moments but Bafta, AKA the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, is much more than just an annual award show. Here seven of Bafta Breakthrough’s most illustrious alumni reflect on the scheme and the careers they went on to build.
